Transplanter



L. 4LA lvIBBTH an s. BOONE.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

TRANSPLANTER.

Patented May 28, 1895.

2 Sheets- Sheet 2.

(N0`Mode1.)

L.A LAMBETH 8v S. BOONE.

TRANSPLANTER.

104540,1713 Patented May 28, 1895 L0 Sam/@eaome Hrgzays.

moron.

'me Nonms PETERS no.. Hmoumm WASH UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOVIOK LAMBETH AND SALATHIEL BOONE, OF CARLISLE, INDIANA.

TRANSPLANTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 540,171, dated'lVIay28, 1895. Application fled March 28, 1894. Serial No. 505,478. (Nomodel.)

To @ZZ whom it may concerm.

Be it known that we, LovIoK LAMBETH and SALATHIEL BOONE, citizens of theUnited States, residing at Carlisle, in the county of Sullivan and Stateof Indiana, have invented a new and useful Transplanter, of which thefollowing is a specification.

Our invention relates to a plant-setting or transplanting machine, andit has for its object to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficientdevice for opening a furrow, setting plants at intervals, covering orhilling, and rolling the earth upon opposite sides of the line of plantsto settle the same firmly around the roots; and furthermore, to providesimple means of adjustment to vary the depth of the furrow, the positionand pressure of the settling or packing rolls, &c.

Further objects and advantages of our invention will appear in thefollowing description, and the novel features thereof will beparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a machine embodyingour invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 3 is atransverse vertical section in front of the adjusting devices for therolls. Figt is a detail view of one of the angle-irons for attaching theshoe to the framework. Fig. 5 is a detail view of on'e of the shovelsand attaching-bracket. Fig. 6 is a similar view of the shoe detached.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawings.

l designates a frame-work having the parallel side-beams 2 which arebeveled underneath at their front ends and are connected by thetransverse inclined guard 3, which, in common with the main portion ofthe under side of the frame-work is provided with a protecting plate orshield 4 adapted to slide freely over the surface of the ground when theframe is sufficiently lowered.

Secured to the frame under its longitudinal center and having its sidesor cheeks spread or deflected toward their rear ends is a fur-:row-opening shoe 5, the front end of which is upturned, as shown at 6to agree with the inclination of the front guard 3, and is reduced to anedge to cut freely into the soil as the machineis advanced. This noseGof the shoe terminates in a depending projection 7, which extends belowthe plane of the lower edge of the shoe and is located at the frontparallel spaced bars 9, the space between which is directly above thespread or deiiected v'portion of the shoe and to the rear ends of whichare attached angle-irons l0 by which the rear ends of the said cheeks ofthe shoe are held in place. The rear ends of the parallel spaced bars 9are held in place by short bracing pieces l1 which t between the outersides of the bars 9 and the inner sides of the side-beams 2.

The covering or hilling shovels 12 are arranged upon opposite sides ofthe longitudiend of the spread or defiected portion of the nal center ofthe machine in rear of the shoe and spaced therefrom a suiicientdistance to allow the-operation of planting or setting to beaccomplished before the covering or hilling shovels throw the earthagainst the plants, as more fully explained hereinafter. These shovelsare secured in place by means of angle `brackets 13 secured to the rearends of the spaced bars 9, the inner arms 14 of these brackets beingsecured to the inner surfaces of the bars 9, and the outer arms of thesame being secured to the rear sides of the spacing or bracing blocksll. The portion of the protecting plate or shield beneath thefurrowopening shoe is cut away to provide space for the operation of theplanting devices which we will now proceed to describe.

We employa force-feed mechanism consisting of twin parallel conveyers orendless belts, carried by rolls and driven so that the inner contactingsides of the conveyers or belts travel in unison, in the same directionand at the same rate of speed. Furthermore, the conveyers or belts arearranged side by side, whereby when a plant is placed therebetween in anupright position it is carried in such IOO spaced bars 9, with theirfront ends elevated slightly above the plane of the framework and theirrear ends depressed to a point ad jacent to the plane of the projectingplate or shield upon the under side of the framework. The conveyers orbelts are carried at their front ends by the pulleys 16 mounted uponsupports 17 arranged upon said bars 9 and extending inward over theintervening space, and at their rear ends by the pulleys 18 which aremounted upon supports 19 secured to and projecting rearward from therear ends of the bars 9. v

The brackets or supports 17 are cranked and are swiveled in bearings 2Oprovided therefor, and have set screws 2l to hold the same in adjustablepositions, whereby the relative positions of the front pulleys, andhence the relative positions of the front ends of the conveyers or beltsmay be changed to suit plants of different sizes, to take up lostmotion, &c. rlhe front brackets or supports 19 are similarly cranked andmounted in bearings 22 provided therefor, and in 'the construction shownin the drawings the movement of the lower or rear pulleys toward eachother is accomplished by depressing the inner or adjacent ends of thebrackets or supports; the separation of the same being accomplished bythe reverse movement.

Ground-wheels 23 are mounted upon the terminals of the arms 24 of thecranked axle 25, said axle being provided with an intermediate loop 26which is connected by a link 27 to a hand-lever 28 which operates inconnection with a segmental rack 29, to hold the axle at the desiredadjustment. The ground-wheels may be adjusted to run in contact with theground to give motion to the feed-mechanism through the intermediategearing, hereinafter described, or may be depressed sufficiently toelevate and support the front end of the machine. Said gearing may be ofany desired construction, but it preferably comprises a chain-wheel 30carried by the hub of the ground wheel at one side of the machine, asimilar chain-wheel 31 arranged upon the main portion of the crankedaxle, a chain 32 connecting said wheels, a twin chain-wheel mounted uponthe cranked axle adjacent to and preferably formed as a part of thewheel 31, said twin chain wheel being shown at 33,A

a chain wheel 34 fixed to a transverse spindle 35 mounted in bearings onthe main framework in advance of the cranked axle, a chain 36 connectingthe chain-wheels 33 and 34, and bevel-gears 37 meshing with similargears at the lower ends of the front conveyer rolls.

Mounted in suitable bearings in the framework are the longitudinallydisposed rods 38, provided at their front ends with arms 39 [ittingbetween parallel segmental perforated straps 40, the terminals of saidarms being perforated to register with the perforations in the strapsfor the reception of locking-pins 41. These rods support the grooved orconcaved packing or pressing rolls 42, which are preferably arranged atan inclination, when in operation, as shown in the drawings, wherebyafter the roots of the plants are covered by means of the shovels theserolls press the earth toward and snugly around the same. The angle ofthe inclination and the separation of the lower sides of the rolls maybe regulated by means of the arms 39 and the segmental perforated strapsand locking-pins.

The operation of the above-described mechanism will be readilyunderstood from the foregoing when it is explained that the plants arefed by hand between the upper rolls of the conveyer, and are carried bythe latter to their proper positions as the machine moves forward. Whenthe roots of the plants reach the furrow which has been opened inadvance by the shoe, they are released and earth is thrown toward andaround the same by the covering shovels, after which the rolls settleand pack the earth.

The various means for the adjustment of the different parts of themachine enable the same to be adapted for different kinds and sizes ofplants, the depth at which they should be planted, (kc.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and minor details ofconstruction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit orsacricing any of the advantages of the invention.

Having thus described our invention, we claim- 1. In a device of theclass described, the combination with a framework, a furrowopening shoe,and covering shovels arranged in rear thereof, of a force-feed mechanismhaving parallel conveyers arranged side by side with their adjacentsides in parallel juxtaposed vertical planes, and means for operatingthe conveyers whereby the adjacent sides thereof move in unison,substantially as specified.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with a framework,a furrowopening shoe, and covering shovels, of a forcefeed device havingparallel juxtaposed conveyers or belts, pulleys with their sidesarranged in adjacent vertical planes supporting said conveyers or belts,means for adjusting the pulleys to vary the interval between adjacentsides of the conveyers or belts, and operating connections,substantially as specified.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination with a framework,a furrowopening shoe, and covering shovels, of a forcefeed device havingparallel conveyers or belts, pulleys carrying said conveyers or belts,swiveled brackets supporting the pulleys, and capable of adjustment tovary the interval between the contiguous sides of the conveyers orbelts, and means for operating the latter, substantially as specified.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination with a framework,a furrowopening shoe, covering shovels, a force-feed mechanism, andmeans for operating the ICO same, of packing or pressing rolls arrangedin our own We have hereto aftixed our signatures rear of the saidshovels, revoluble rods supin the presence of two witnesses. portingsaid rolls and provided at their front' ends with arms, and means forlocking said LOVICK LAMBETH. 5 arms at different inclinations to Varythe i11- SALATHIEL BOONE.

clination of the rolls and the distance between VVituesses:

their lower sides, substantially as specified. WM. C. HOOVER,

Invtestimony that We claim the foregoing as ALONZO BENSINGER.

